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Cleaning Institute of Australia: The New Mobile Vigilante & Challenges Facing Commercial Cleaning Services Today

Melbourne, Australia, June 21, 2012 --(PR.com)-- In an age where we have been so concerned about the effects of a "Big Brother" society watching us on every street corner, we didn't ever think that it would actually be us that became an army of "little brothers," filming and snapping away at everyone and everything thing around us and posting it to the world. The increasing pervasiveness of smart phone technology coupled with the growing importance and insatiable appetite for social media is having a massive impact on individuals and businesses. We've seen the devastating effects it can have when private photos are posted in the public domain (and not just those of footballers and their management) but there are other uses being encouraged for a common good. We are now seeing the new vigilante, armed with their mobile phone cameras, on the streets and around the buildings they live and work in, checking the upkeep is up to scratch and reporting if it is not. The Sunday Herald Sun Melbourne featured an article (June 19, 2011, written by Mitchell Toy) on a then new phone app, "snap, send, solve" that "allows the user to take a photo of faulty infrastructure and automatically send it to the right council using GPS positioning..." The article states, "Disgruntled ratepayers have been given a new hi-tech weapon to report vandalism and damage to slow-moving councils." A weapon or an aid? While this is a useful tool in providing people with the opportunity to actively and easily participate in keeping their community well presented or even safe, it is yet another example of where, by the very nature of the immediacy of delivery, the sender imagines the "problem" should be "made good" almost as quickly. The power of an email sent with a photo attachment significantly increases the expectation of a speedy response and demonstrates the prevalence today of the individual to demand immediate action. This has become a symptom of our fast paced technology society and it affects almost all of us in some way. From our computer's ever-full mailbox demanding immediate reply, through to the recipients of our emails from whom we demand same. Spare a thought for the facility and property manager. For now tenants everywhere are turning their cameras onto the buildings they live and work in and reporting a range of maintenance and cleaning services issues requiring attention. Facilities and property managers contacted and interviewed for this article have stated that they can barely keep up with the requests for often miniscule issues to be rectified. It is not the sheer volume of reporting but the ongoing demands for updates until the matter is dealt with. Wes Slimmon from VBCS (Victorian Body Corporate Services) stated that "the iphone is the bane of the FM manager's life. Emails and images are sent overnight and the tenant then expects the matter to be dealt with the next day, which with non urgent issues is not always possible."

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Stuart Mellington from Select Owners Corp Management agreed adding that "Owners Corporation Committees are demanding higher and higher service levels for cheaper and cheaper fees." One company that is providing solutions to streamline processes and communications for Property Groups and Body Corporate Management companies is the commercial cleaning services company CIA, (Cleaning Institute of Australia). Understanding to the need to more effectively manage a work order life cycle from the initial request, CIA has developed a Customer Service Management System, which incorporates CIA uMonitor. Customers are able to log their request at any time of day or night using the device of their choice, ideal for Property Managers on the road. Once the request is logged a complete record of all communication there after is captured and can be viewed by multiple team members, allowing for easier tracking and more accountability. CIA Managing Director Stephane Fayd'herbe describes uMonitor as "an efficient tool to deliver cost effective results with a better response time to the benefit of all stakeholders. For reactive maintenance and commercial cleaning services we have found CIA uMonitor saves us and our clients time and money."

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Contact Information: Cleaning Institute of Australia Richard Blackman 1300 889 369 Contact via Email cleaningia.com.au/

Online Version of Press Release: You can read the online version of this press release at: http://www.pr.com/press-release/421471

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